it's up to you to be you.

I finally got my hands on the first season of Game of Thrones, thanks to some friends. I’m sad to say that I’m not as into it as I thought I would be, but perhaps that is just because I’ve not yet been able to sit down with it and give it my full attention. It wasn’t until the last three episodes of the season that I started to understand what was going on. So, if you do watch this highly acclaimed series, you can imagine that it has been a bit confusing. In any case, this post has nothing to do with reviewing the show. I remember my friend once quoting the show as she gave me a mini pep talk, and she said, “You either win or you die.” And I laughed, but it’s so true. In life, you either win or you die. You either live life and give it your all, or…you don’t. And then what is your life worth? Of course, winning in real life is all relative, and has nothing to do with always coming out on top. If you’ve never known failure, then you can never have truly won or found success. I’m twenty-five, and a recent law school graduate, so I get asked a lot, “What is your ultimate goal?” “What do you want to do?” For a while I thought I was sure I knew what I wanted to do, where I needed to be, and where I truly belonged. I thought I had figured it out, and I knew how I was going to get there. Within the last few weeks, however, I have had sort of an eye opening conversation with my mentor. That sounds a bit more dramatic than it actually was, but it was like I was reminded of what my true capacity is. Then, after a conversation I had with someone this week, I thought even more about this question. And I realized, that throughout all the experiences I’ve had, throughout my educational career, and throughout every which way my dreams have taken shape and color, one thing, one goal, has remained the same from the time I was six. And I knew this, but I have been given a lot of great advice from a lot of truly fantastic people in the industry—gratefully so—which sort of sent my mind all over the place and scattered my direction a bit. I feel like that happens sometimes when you start to feel desperate for what you want and what you’re trying to achieve. When that happens, I always have to breathe, take a step back, and remind myself “patience and persistence.” People can give you all kinds of advice, but you have to know what you want to know which advice is actually suitable to your goals. So, after going back to thinking about what I really want, what I want more than anything, it’s like it finally came into true focus. And then I knew I needed to get myself in the right place to achieve that goal. I won’t go into detail here, but I’ll just say that I like where the ball has been rolling lately. Now, it all comes down to “you either win or you die.” You either live life and give it your all…or what’s the point of living? BIG LOVE & HUGS Love, Justine